Charlene's Eye-Catching Advice

"Say, roughly how much would it cost to buy a small island overseas and build a manor on it?"

Su Bai's sudden question caught Xia Lin off guard.

"You're not serious, are you? This kind of thing isn't just a one-time expense, you know. Maintenance burns money constantly, and it's really not necessary," Xia Lin said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

This was the sort of hobby reserved for the ultra-rich, but in reality... it offered absolutely zero cost-effectiveness.

Then again, on second thought, Su Bai never seemed to care about cost-effectiveness. He probably only brought it up because he had suddenly taken a strong interest in the idea.

That seemed to be how Su Bai did things: acting on whatever caught his fancy.

As the experienced older woman, all Xia Lin could do was help him weigh the pros and cons. As for the final decision, that was entirely up to Su Bai.

"Haha, I just have too much money on hand, so I'm imagining some long-term plans," Su Bai laughed. Inwardly, he thought: So it's a project that can continuously burn money? Doesn't that mean it's a perfect match for my Indulgence System?

Having his own manor and hiring a private security team—just thinking about it felt incredibly cool.

Of course, Su Bai didn't want to do anything evil in a place like that; he just liked the feeling of absolute freedom.

After chatting for a while longer, Chen Yusheng arrived.

Her Q&A session had ended, and she had asked Su Bai where he was. Su Bai told her he was in Xia's office, so she came over as well.

Upon entering, Chen Yusheng sniffled and said, "Xia, this room of yours is quite cold."

"Yeah, the insulation in this building is mediocre, and it's a bit drafty. Even with the AC running, it's still a little cold... but if you leave the AC on too high, it gets extremely dry," Xia Lin said helplessly.

Even a top-tier wealthy beauty like her was constrained by the objective conditions of Jiangcheng's winters.

Jiangcheng didn't have central heating, so when the weather got really cold, they basically had to rely on air conditioning.

Running the AC heater too much was genuinely uncomfortable, nowhere near as natural as the radiators in the north.

"No problem. If you guys feel cold, I can help warm you up."

Su Bai held Chen Yusheng's hand and reached out to wrap his arm around Xia Lin's waist. The latter gave him a helpless, reproachful glare but honestly complied.

Xia Lin was truly the gentle type, lacking any desire to control. Su Bai found this quite amazing, as rich girls usually had a strong need for control. Growing up surrounded by abundance, they naturally wanted to dictate every aspect of their lives.

This was undoubtedly very normal. For instance, children raised in business families tended to be much smoother in handling social relations and worldly affairs, provided their parents paid attention to their upbringing.

However, Xia Lin had little desire to control Su Bai, which was a great thing. Su Bai certainly didn't want to find himself a bossy overlord.

If he got rich only to be bossed around by his girlfriend, wouldn't his wealth be for nothing?

Having money meant doing whatever he wanted, dammit!

From this perspective, Su Bai felt that Xue Tao was getting a raw deal. His family's conditions were actually pretty good, but because of Xue Tao's own inadequacies, he was easily manipulated by someone like Liu Yuanyuan.

Couldn't he just find a normal woman, for crying out loud?

One could only say that weirdos attract each other.

"So, how does it feel to be a teaching assistant? Shengsheng, you need to adapt to the role quickly. Who knows, maybe next semester Professor Luo will hand you a project," Xia Lin teased.

"Really? Leading a project in her freshman year? Xia, is this insider information or are you just making things up?" Su Bai joked.

"How could I be making it up? This is a reasonable speculation about the professors," Xia Lin said seriously. "Professor Luo is someone who really wants to advance. He knows you're wealthy and passionate about investing in scientific research, so he'll definitely put your little girlfriend in a key position. In his eyes, there aren't many rigid rules. As long as it brings progress, rules can be changed on the spot."

Xia Lin's words were not unfounded.

The academic circle was actually a place that heavily valued non-academic factors. There weren't that many young talents out there. While a person's brilliance certainly played a major role, in reality, it was much more about the social maneuvering and connections of the big shots.

Professor Luo was a relatively young and ambitious associate professor, and he had a big boss above him. If this entire chain favored Chen Yusheng, then the so-called rules and conventions of the circle could easily be broken.

Especially for a student like Chen Yusheng, who loved self-study and delving into things. There was no need to wait for her to methodically finish her undergraduate studies before doing certain things. After all, things related to computer science rarely needed to be strictly methodical anyway.

Weren't those big shots who wrote operating systems doing important work while they were still students?

Su Bai felt that Chen Yusheng also possessed that kind of potential.

"Really? I feel a bit unconfident..." In front of Xia and Su Bai, Chen Yusheng was very honest, unlike when she had to maintain an aloof demeanor while answering questions in the classroom.

It wasn't that she was intentionally aloof; she was just a little nervous. Since she wasn't familiar with those classmates, acting aloof was her only option, a result of her personality traits.

"Don't be unconfident, you can do this. You could even take this opportunity to pick one or two people from the competition participants who look pleasing to the eye and capable. Then, when you do projects later, you can bring them along as your workforce," Xia Lin continued to offer constructive advice.

Come to think of it, this really made sense. If they were interested in this competition, there was a high probability they would be willing to work in a laboratory.

Although the professors were willing to make an exception for Chen Yusheng, proper graduate students might not necessarily be willing to work under a freshman girl, regardless of her actual skills...

She had to produce some results first.

Recruiting some undergraduates as a workforce was a very good option, and she could even continue to employ them in the future.

Truth be told, when it came to the various little tricks and loopholes within the school, Xia Lin was the professional. For someone unfamiliar with the university system, no amount of money could buy this kind of insight.

Su Bai suddenly felt that Xia Lin had truly learned real things while studying for her master's and working as a counselor at Jiangcheng University. She wasn't just finding a random job to coast through life, as she herself had claimed.

Xia was still too modest.

No wonder she had no interest in that Bai Feili. Even though they were both from Shanghai, the gap in their way of doing things was quite large.

Xia Lin was the type who handled matters flawlessly in practice, providing great help and reliable advice to the friends around her, yet she remained very low-key and humble.

That guy, on the other hand, looked like he was floating on air...

Hearing Xia Lin's suggestion, Chen Yusheng also felt enlightened, and the two began to discuss the details.

As for what needed to be discussed with the professors, Xia Lin stated that she was perfectly capable of negotiating on her behalf.

"Haha, it seems my brain isn't cut out to make any contributions to scientific research, so it's great that I can at least help you guys out."

"Come on, Xia, you make it sound like my brain is fit to be a scientist..." Su Bai quipped. "Don't jump to conclusions just because my grades are decent!"

Having good grades and being suited for research were two entirely different matters.